cedure room, before they
cross the threshold. Only
after this step can the
instruments be transport-
ed from the point of use
to SPD, and this must be
done in an impervious
container.
2. Storage
concepts
One of the well-known
infection control chal-
lenges in surgical instru-
ment reprocessing is main-
taining a sterile packaging
barrier from the point of
sterilization, into storage,
through to the point of use.
Deb Van Rooyen, operations supervisor for sterile processing and supply
chain management at Hennepin Healthcare in Minneapolis, Minn.,
argues that innovative storage concepts addressing this challenge should
top the list of infection control game-changers.
Ms. Van Rooyen notes that nearly all surgical facilities in the country
use disposable surgical wrappers as a sterile barrier for the reprocess-
ing of their surgical instruments. However, this particular packaging
method has historically been prone to holes, rips and tears in the ster-
ile blue barrier, causing a nearly ubiquitous infection control chal-
lenge, with very few holistic solutions.
When the integrity of surgical wraps are compromised by holes, the
4 2 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • J U N E 2 0 1 8
• 3D VIEW Stereo inspection microscopes let technicians clearly see the
tips of delicate instrumentation.
